Longevity Begins From Raising Disciples

Divine Mist Valley, within a serene bamboo pavilion by the water.

The fragrance of tea lingered, white smoke swirled.

As for the three disciples, they had already been taken into the depths of the valley by Mao Qingzhu to pick spirit fruits and visit the spirit fields, and were not present here.

Inside the pavilion, only Chen Ye and Mao Cheng sat opposite each other.

Mao Cheng personally poured a cup of Cangzhu tea for Chen Ye, placed down the teapot, and got straight to the point: ”Little Friend Chen, I won’t beat around the bush. My Mao Family has always remained aloof from worldly matters, yet you come in plain clothes without seeking the Xu Family, who have connections that reach the sky. Why did you come to find my Mao Family?”

Chen Ye picked up the teacup, gently blew on the floating tea leaves, and smiled: ”Senior Mao, although the Mao Family claims to be aloof from worldly affairs, supporting such a large family of cultivators requires vast resources. Surely, you cannot sit idly by and wait for the flying swords in Heart Slaughter Cave to run out, nor is it possible to be completely ignorant of the outside world?”

As for Mao Family being unaware of his having taken over as Peak Master yesterday, Chen Ye was well aware.

That was just due to the short time frame, with a distance between Moon Creek Lake District and Lingyin Mountain, so the news hadn’t reached here yet. It certainly didn’t mean that the Mao Family was completely blind and deaf.

”Oh? What makes you say that?”

Mao Cheng’s attitude was rather amiable; he held his teacup, his eyes flickering, seemingly having a faint idea of what Chen Ye wanted to say.

Chen Ye took a slow sip of spirit tea and explained clearly:

”As far as I know, the Mao Family actually operates trade routes in the outside world. Years ago, when I was in Yunxi District and met Sister Qingzhu, she was with the Mao Family’s trade caravan.”

”Indeed, this is no secret, the Mao Family has always had trade caravans outside to sustain the valley’s expenses.” Mao Cheng admitted frankly, ”The Mao Family’s seclusion mainly means not interfering with external disputes.”

”Moreover.”

Chen Ye raised his head and looked directly at this Family Head of the Mao Family,

”The Mao Family precepts mention that the Mao Family ancestors were originally from Qi Kingdom and were a thriving cultivation clan there.”

Upon hearing this, Mao Cheng’s hand holding the teacup paused slightly, a touch of reminiscence appeared on his thin face, and he sighed,

”Yes, but unfortunately, calamity struck later, and the clan was on the brink of destruction. To save the bloodline, the ancestor had no choice but to leave their homeland, fleeing to Yan Kingdom, and finally stumbled into this Divine Mist Valley by accident, where they found a place to settle and survive...”

”If I’m not mistaken,”

Chen Ye put down the teacup, finally revealing the real purpose of his visit,

”Although the Mao Family ancestors came to Divine Mist Valley out of necessity, they should have secretly left behind some hidden foundations and connections in Qi Kingdom, shouldn’t they?”

With these words.

The atmosphere in the pavilion became somewhat delicate.

Mao Cheng’s gaze flickered as he looked fixedly at Chen Ye for a long time.

Instead of answering, he asked, ”How did you guess?”

This was tantamount to an indirect admission.

Chen Ye smiled, fingers gently tapping on the stone table, calmly analyzing,

”Back then, when I first met Sister Qingzhu, she was spending heavily to purchase various magical artifacts in Yunxi District. Initially, I was puzzled about where these artifacts were being sold. At first, I thought the Mao Family was trying to ship them to this Moon Creek Lake District to make a profit.”

”But when I came to this Moon Creek Lake District, I found that the place was full of mixed crowds, and magical artifact trading was already thriving, not lacking in supply. Moreover, if the Mao Family were reselling the artifacts at a higher price, those frugal loose cultivators would rather travel an extra two or three days to personally buy from Yunxi District than be taken advantage of by the Mao Family, right?”

Mao Cheng listened quietly, the appreciation in his eyes growing stronger.

”So, these magical artifacts are not being consumed within the borders of Yan Kingdom at all.”

Chen Ye’s eyes were firm,

”And in Qi Kingdom? Over there, the Demon Path prevails, and forces like the Emotion Crossing Sect are constantly at war, creating an extremely chaotic situation. In such an environment, artifact refiners can hardly work peacefully, fearing for their lives and treasures, with most of them, along with alchemists, fleeing to Yan Kingdom. The Market’s commercial operation is also unhealthy, with frequent magical battles among cultivators, causing a great depletion of magical artifacts, overwhelmingly in demand.”

”Secretly shipping artifacts from Yan Kingdom to Qi Kingdom for sale... that’s definitely an extremely profitable venture!”

”I’m afraid that the Mao Family’s so-called reclusion does not merely mean recuperation, but also serves to cover up and protect this underground trade route to Qi Kingdom, doesn’t it?”

The pavilion was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop.

After a moment.

”Clap, clap, clap...”

Mao Cheng put down his teacup, and suddenly clapped his hands and laughed softly:

”Little Friend Chen is meticulous and insightful, I admire you. However, your reasoning is somewhat a stroke of luck.”

Chen Ye raised his eyebrow slightly, making a gesture of intent listening: ”Oh? Please enlighten me.”

Mao Cheng stroked his clear beard under his chin, a smile on his face, and said slowly:

”Since I’m bold enough to engage in such profitable trade spanning two kingdoms, I certainly wouldn’t leave such obvious flaws. In fact, when I was purchasing magical artifacts on a large scale in Yunxi District and elsewhere, I deliberately laid down numerous illusionary traps.”

”If anyone with intentions from the outside tried to trace the final destination of those magical artifacts, following the clues would eventually lead them all to Black Cliff City at the border.”

Mao Cheng paused, dipped a fingertip in tea, and drew a simple water pathway on the stone table,

”Black Cliff City is located at the estuary of Cang River, the port is bustling, with sea ships coming and going frequently. Anyone tracing it there would seamlessly conclude that my Mao Family is transshipping these artifacts to the scattered cultivator islands overseas via port merchant ships. Such a conclusion is both rational and avoids arousing the suspicion of Lingyin Sect.”